Charles Leclerc has downplayed the significance of an intra-team rivalry with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, admitting he’s far more focused on returning the team to the front of the grid than beating his illustrious teammate while battling in the midfield.
Ferrari has shown flashes of potential this season, with Leclerc securing four podiums in the first 12 races. However, Hamilton, in his debut season with the Scuderia, has yet to finish in the top three in a grand prix.
Both drivers have been vocal about the need for the Italian outfit to address performance shortcomings, with Hamilton noting that the team is “not firing on all cylinders”, and Leclerc echoed this sentiment, prioritizing team progress over individual competition.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Leclerc offered his candid view on Ferrari’s current competitive struggles in Formula 1 and emphasized that personal duels carry little meaning when the team isn’t regularly in the hunt for victories.
“It's something that really is in the background for now,” the Monegasque said. “You're always looking at it in one way or another, but to be honest, when you are fighting for fourth, fifth, sixth, it's not really something that interests me that much.
“Then, of course, when we start to fight for wins, then you look at those things a lot closer.”
Focus on Development, Not Internal Battles
For Leclerc, learning from Hamilton’s experience has taken precedence over competing with him in the current circumstances.
“I was just here to try and learn as much as possible from Lewis of what I could learn, what could benefit me as a driver, and then focus on myself with the target of doing the best possible job, which means beating Lewis, but not only,” he explained.
“I think the main target of the team and my main target at the moment is to bring Ferrari back to the top. And, yeah, Lewis is not my target at the moment because we're not fighting for very interesting positions.”
Suspension Upgrade Offers Hope – But No Guarantees
Ferrari arrived at Spa with a revised rear suspension package, having trialed the update during a filming day at Mugello. However, Leclerc remained guarded about the changes and said any gains from the new geometry would become clearer during proper race weekend running.
“We did not [feel a difference in behaviour] and I'm not going to comment on the specific behaviours of this suspension,” he said.
“Obviously, these are things that remain for us and it would be quite stupid for us to comment it globally on what does what. But we'll find out tomorrow on track.”
©Ferrari
Despite his preference for an aggressive car setup to extract maximum performance, Leclerc acknowledged the drawbacks that can come with it, particularly in changing conditions, something that hampered him at Silverstone.
“I don't think [it will change how we set up the car]. I can find the confidence if I set up the car in a different way. So, if I need confidence, I'll go for that,” commented the eight-time Grand Prix winner.
“But for now, I prefer to go for performance rather than confidence. It doesn't always pay off and I think we've seen it last race weekend in Silverstone, where obviously I had my struggles, which were pretty big on the wet.
“And I know that this is the risk of running such an extreme set-up. I don't think this will improve with that because we still need to set up the car in a relatively similar position in order to extract the maximum out of it. But I'm happy to follow that path.”
As Ferrari continues its quest to return to winning ways, Leclerc remains laser-focused on the bigger picture – fighting at the front, not fighting within.
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